Ice Ice Baby
by Bronzemoon
Summary: Ever have one of those annoying friends who just don't know when to leave you alone?
1. Chapter 1

Ice Ice Baby

Tamara Stone casually pushed the juice bag off the side of her grand bed and stretched as she lay down. She slid beneath the cool silk sheets and reveled in the pure opulence of the hotel's room. Her feed had been sweet, young and foreign. She looked over the pretty girl and shrugged, too bad for her that she had been at Tam's favorite club. Of course it helped that Tam looked barely older than the children at the club, she had been turned when she had barely been eighteen herself, so retained her youthful appearance and that made all the difference when trying to lure your prey. Teens were the easiest to take: the promise of the forbidden and sensuality overrode their common sense and left them ripe for the picking. It was almost too easy, but this close to slumber she had wanted a quick meal. The girl would never know just how lucky she was, had Tam found her earlier in the night she would have found out just how much power could be gathered from a painful and sadistic death. The sun was just starting to peak and as the grips of sleepiness claimed her a cruel smile graced her lips. It had been a near perfect day and she was more than happy to begin her long earned rest. In fact Tam would have been hard pressed to recall a month that had gone as smoothly as her past month had been. It almost made her happy. She curled into a ball and snuggled deep into the blankets covering her After all, it's not every day that one could destroy an enemy, gain a promotion and look totally bad ass while doing it.

It all started years ago, as a vampire she had stopped counting the years as the passed; it really didn't matter after all. Tam had been through the ups and downs of finding out that supernatural being did exist in the world: being abducted by vampires, forced into servitude and through a fluke ended up partially bonded to a vampire named Roxy. She used to care that her life had been snatched away from her, but over the years she began to see life for what it really was, survival of the fittest. Despite still being human, she learned quickly that emotions were likely to get you killed because it made you hesitate made you think too much and caused you to ignore your inner voice. Roxy had offered her a way out of a worse situation and Tam took it without thought because she had offered the golden prize of revenge against everyone who had used and abused her previously and it was sweet. They had become friends, as much as they could be, and Tam was okay with her life the way it was. While being Roxy's most trusted servant she met many high ranking and powerful vampires, and being a servant meant that she was invisible to them which gave her the opportunity to learn as much as she could. She filed away information for later, knowing that with how her life worked she would need the information one day. When one of Roxy's clubs was attacked by werewolves, Tam had no choice but to be embraced fully; either that or watch her beloved mate, Jack, die. She chose what she considered to be the lesser of two evils and let Roxy bring her over, she ferociously hunted those who had tried to abduct her husband and kill her. There were no good choices or ending, she had become a vampire and to save the one she loved only to lose who he was when he had to become ghoul to stay alive.

After all the drama, craziness and freedom that came with being a vampire Tam didn't care any longer. She did things because she could and because no one would stop her. She was stray bullet and unpredictable enough that they others tended to leave her alone. She hunted the werewolves with a vengeance few understood or cared about. Each time she was able to bring a tooth or claw back home she considered it partial payment for Jack's destruction. True, she was the one who had to eventually kill him, but he never would have been ghouled if not for the deadly blow struck by one of those mangy curs. Tam had been living wild and free for years and she liked it. She knew only her own desires, wants and through a strong of events and trials she allied herself with the Sabbat. The renegades who wanted abject freedom from the rules, those who didn't care if the masquerade were broken or not and those were dangerous to cross and deadly to try to stop. For Tam, being allied with them meant she could do the one thing she had dreamed privately of for years; get rid of anyone she had past affiliations with. She was quite literally burying her past and all her pain with it.

Funny thing about timing, if everything falls into place people are prone to call it destiny and fate, if it goes awry people cry out that they are forsaken. Tam believed in neither aspect - she did however believe that opportunities were given and if you didn't take them when they presented themselves you would miss the only chance you would have to fulfill your truest wishes and desires.

For instance, Tam had waltzed her way into Washington D.C. on a lark. She had been hunting werewolves in New York, to see if she might find the one who had taken her beloved Jack from her. Actually, it was now more that she had an agenda to complete rather than that she was still feeling the loss of her husband. After days of meeting with informants, creeping through the subway system and chasing one down only to find it to be solo; she had found nothing and decided to take a break to refresh herself. She knew she worked poorly when her temper snapped and New York was a place full of idiots, both living and dead. So she sat in a dark corner of a bar in DC watching the others emulating human vices such as smoking, and wondering what the hell was wrong with these people. It was amusing really, they remembered to inhale the smoke, however not being alive and having the automatic function of breathing, they often forgot to exhale - meaning as they talked of just sat there, the smoke wafted from their noses and mouths. It looked ridiculous and Tam chuckled. She had no idea why vampires tried so hard to emulate their food. It would have made sense if they were newly turned vamps, but she had seen century old vampires still smoking and shooting up. Not like indulgence in vices would do more than affect an appearance, everyone knew that the only way to get an effect from such vices was to have food ingest it first.

She was getting ready to move onto another bar and see if anything else was going in the night life of D.C. was worth staying for, when a very familiar voice rang out from the bar.

"Tamara Stone. Why didn't you tell me you were going to be in my city? I would have thrown you a welcoming party."

The voice was meant to be sultry; however it came off more like some whiny little kid pretending to be a sexy adult and failing miserably. It ran shivers up and down Tam's spine and a feeling very much like dread course through her. Of all the people she had no desire of seeing and she had walked right into the bar of someone who would undoubtedly drive her crazy. Tam turned around to face the owner of the voice who was smiling widely at her from the bar. Tam forced a wide smile to her lips, which became real as she decided to take advantage of the little gift tossed her way. She hadn't been looking to actually work on this trip but was more than happy for this particular piece of luck and went to talk to her "friend", or number one-hundred and twenty on her agenda, which ever you preferred to call it.

"Well Falcon I would have never thought to find you here." Tam said sitting at the bar and ordering a shot glass of Irish Teen vintage. It was a bit pricey but she really had nothing else to spend her money on currently, not to mention tossing money around was one way to make sure others thought twice about trying you.

"Oh, I go by Icy now." she said, waving to the bar tender to make it two and nix the cost. "I haven't been called The Falcon in years. I barely remember that girl!"

"Okay...Icy." Tam said, doing the shot before finishing her conversation. "I wasn't aware that you had moved. So how is D.C. treating you?"

"Wonderful! It was nice to find a place to hang my hat after all the drama I have had! I even had to switch names twice! It's almost like the hunters knew where to find me, but I couldn't figure out how they would find out, I mean all my friends never heard a thing. Anyhow, I first switched to KC and had this really successful online advice column; you should have seen how many little girls looked up to me for advice and stuff. I had a great Goth following and it seemed to work well, but sitting on my ass for sixteen hours a day started to get to me. I was eating everything in sight and started to become like a frumpy housewife or something, so that had to stop. You know I am so conscious of keeping my beauty and besides why would I stay hidden away? Then I went by Siobhan, dyed my hair red and went around like an Irish vixen. You would have loved it; I had at least twenty men wanting to be my personal slaves no matter the cost. You know I always was popular and everyone was inviting me their parties and such, well the Prince here took notice and gave me this really fabulous invite to come and dine with him. While I was there, I made sure that I introduced the idea to take over a fleet of transports that were coming in from China or someplace like that. The Prince was intrigued because it meant that we could finally take a major foothold in New York, so he let me make all of the arrangements to take it over. Well some stupid bitch vampire named Elizabeth Sharpe came to me and said that she was trying to make a name for herself because she was tired of being known only by her sire and that she was so impressed by my reputation that she had to work with me. Lord Baccus is her sire and you know how popular he is, I mean what better way for me to have him owe me a favor than to help out one of his children. So this bit said she would not be a burden and she was really there to learn from the best. She would do anything I asked, now originally I had to think twice about it but she kept begging and saying that she wanted to help me so that people would get to know her name. So in the end, this whore set me up in some bogus relationship and then went behind my back and arranged everything and made me look like a total incompetent! So she got all the credit and made me look like a fool. She took my own ideas and sold them off as hers and led the Prince to believe that my interests to place before his. The Prince told me that I would have to redeem myself, but after I told him all about her plots and schemes he understood and put me in charge over some of his other venues." Icy said downing her own shot then ran her finger inside the glass to pick up the residue and licked up the blood. "Anyhow, now I have this bar and my antiques shop to keep me busy! How is Roxy? I haven't heard from her in ages."

Tam slowly came out of the fugue that she had slipped into in self-defense. The prattling had near sent her into a coma, but even still she was able to recall certain details. She had almost laughed as she suddenly recalled some gossip about a vampire called Icy having some sordid affair with a drunk old werewolf who had somehow lost his power and was a mere human. She was amazed of how much could be said, in not saying anything of substance at all. Tam fought back the laughter bubbling up at her lips as she reviewed the attempts to impress through out the rambling tale. Icy just admitted to being on the Prince's shit list and Tam filed the name Elizabeth Sharpe away for further investigation. Anyone who had the common sense to make Icy their fall girl was someone that Tam figured she should know a little more about.

"I haven't seen her much since I struck out on my own, but I hear she's doing just fine." Tam said, ordering another drink so she could turn away from her hostess.

"We should get together soon! Have a girl's night rampage or something like that!" Icy blathered on, oblivious to Tam's indifference.

Tam gave a non-committal nod and finished her drink, at one point she would have wanted to destroy this vestige of her past but after seeing what sad shape she was in, Tam decided it would be more cruel to let her live.

"Well it was great to see you." Tam said standing. "I'm off to bed before traveling tomorrow."

"Actually if you have a few moments, I would like to hire you for a few days to do some translation work for me." Icy said, sliding onto a bar stool next to Tam. "I have this great old family book, and I was going to find someone local to translate it but since you are here and we have known each other forever I think you are a better choice!"

"I don't know, Icy; I'm not sure how long I am even going to be in town." Tam said rising.

"Oh wait!" Icy said standing quickly, the too tight fitting satin dress nearly popped at the seams as she stood, and she nearly tripped over the train that pooled at her feet. "I can make it worth your while."

Tam must have looked really skeptical because Icy ramble on quickly to keep her interest.

"I can pay you ten thousand cash plus ten more in an unmarked account in the Caymans." Icy said in a rising whine that sent a shiver up Tam's spine.

"Fine, I'll take a look at it, and if it is something I can do quickly, I'll help you." Tam said "But I promise nothing."

Icy shook her head and signaled to someone to take over the bar and looping her arm through Tam's led her out a back door and into a waiting car. Icy leaned up and whispered directions to the driver and they were off. They stopped at Union Station and Icy led Tam under ground. They walked past the metro rail's ticket window and went through a side door and down more stares. There was a ten minute walk and then they entered a rather cozy ante chamber, it was lit with electric lights made to resemble candles. Tam often wondered why people bothered to replicate the old, it was great wouldn't they still be using the same materials? Seemed that people loved the décor of the past but the lessons that should have been learned weren't and led the stupid chits down the same path time and time again.

"Where are we?" Tam asked, pretending to be intrigued by the obvious opulence of the room.

"One of the libraries owned by the Prince, the location is secret so I can't tell you much more than that." Icy said trying to gracefully sink into a chair; however she barely managed to flop down in it breathlessly. "He wanted it cataloged so I volunteered and found this old book and wondered about what it said. It's supposed to be really old, maybe ancient or something."

Tam kept a straight face as Icy blathered on, contradicting her previous statements, making Tam wonder what was so special about the book that Icy's first instinct was to lie about it. Then again Icy's first instinct was to lie about everything. Icy got up and flounced, well rather tried to; two hundred plus pounds didn't flounce very well, over to a bookshelf and after rummaging about pulled one from under a pile of others. Tam was certain that if people knew the reality of being a vampire less people might interested in becoming embraced. Becoming a vampire meant that you were "stuck" at the point when you turned. There was no amazing transformation that turned you into a model quality dynamo, martial arts expert or any other such nonsense. Thus if you were over two hundred pounds when you were embraced, or if you had just gotten the worst haircut imaginable, you were stuck with it! Bring stuck as a fresh faced eighteen year old sometimes got in Tam's way, but not as much as being a haggard looking over blown cow would. Tam's attention was redirected back towards Icy and was amazed at the abuse the old tomes were taking; being dropped, stepped on so the spines broke and handled carelessly enough that some ripped out pages were strewn about the floor. She wondered what the Prince would have to say about the treatment of his library. Icy held the book out to her, pinching it with two fingers as if the dust would fly off the book and mar her appearance.

"This is it." Icy said.

Tam felt a shiver course through her body, a tingling sensation almost forgotten it has been so long, stimulated her brain as she looked at the title. It was in Egyptian so ancient that she recognized only a slight handful of the hieroglyphs. She put on her strongest poke face and leafed through it. From what she could glean but she did recognize it as the Book of the Dead, or at least one of the few copies floating around the world. Tam resisted the urge to kill Icy right there, take the book and run. That would surely bring too much attention to her, not to mention too much attention to the book.

"I'll have to get my notebook from home, but I think I can help you. I'm not sure what I will translate will make sense, it seems to be done in riddles." Tam said, accepting the job but appearing to be reluctant. "It might just be a big waste of time. Are you sure you want it done?"

"Oh yes! The Prince would be happy!" Icy started to gush, and then in an uncharacteristic effort to control herself, "I mean, if you can do it cool, if not I'll hire someone else - I just figured we are old gal pals and you might want the money."

Tam nodded and started to walk towards the door, which she assumed was an exit. In reality she was deliberately wandering so she could make a mental map of the place.

"No silly! This way or you will get lost. The Prince had some tunnels built under the Hyatt Regency so we had a good place to hide. There are two exits - even smarter of him if you ask me." Icy said leading Tam another way out of the room.

Tam smiled and let herself be led, she asked the right questions to get more of an idea of where she was, who had access to the library, what kind of security was there and how she would be transported to the library the next day. Icy assured her that she would be escorted in first class style and not to worry about privacy only a few ghouls would be there with her. Tam nodded and smiled, they parted ways once they were top side and Tam took a cab back to her hotel, where she promptly made her get away plans. This of course included grabbing a decoy, (actually took care of dinner too!) and then making plans for a red eye flight back to New York. She booked a room at the Hyatt for a hideaway if need be and after her belly was full she lay down and sank into mindless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Ice Ice Baby Ch 2

The plan worked perfectly; of course when you were dealing with an idiot well thought plans did tend to work out well. Tam met Icy back at the bar after dusk, and rode with her and two ghouls back to the library. She was escorted inside and then Icy left to go tend the bar. The two ghouls were left as her escorts and ten minutes after Icy left, they lay dead on one of the plush velour chairs. Tam quickly and carefully went through as many books as she could in two hours. Icy was predictable enough to make a "surprise" visit after three of four hours and Tam planned to be long gone. She crammed the ancient tome Icy wanted translated as well as a few others into an old leather backpack then doused the entire room in acetone. It was a wonderful accelerant and since it was water soluble, the fire fighters hoses tended to wash most of the evidence away, only a chemical dirt analysis for quantity content could tell that it had been arson and somehow Tam doubted an investigation would be happening. She carefully set the small charge explosive and walked quickly upstairs to her rented room in the Hyatt. She had time enough to take a shower, change and leave before the fireworks would start.

Tam was in a cab riding for the train station, wearing her new face when she heard over the CB radio the call for fire fighters to the Hyatt Regency. Her youthful face smiled as she made her escape. Once on board the train and heading north, she tossed and turned until she found a mostly comfortable position in the very dark sleeping car and settled in for a good nap.

Tam arrived in New York a mere half hour before dawn and before she retired to slumber she tried to make contact with the Arch Bishop to let him know she was in town and ask for an audience. She left herself only ten minutes to make it back to her place before the first rays of the damning sun came out. She locked herself in her room and as she felt the first vestiges of sleep pull on her mind, she took a quick drink from her bonded servant and went to her room to pass out for a few hours.

Ten hours later when she awoke, fortunately for her she always woke up completely awake with no cobwebs to clear, she quickly fed her servant and issued the command that no one was to bother her, save the Arch Bishop, and got to work trying to translate the ancient tome. She surfaced three hours later, needing to clear her head from the translations. She sent out for dinner and then turned on her television to see what havoc she had wreaked. Her servant returned minutes later with a drugged teen in tow. Tam sighed, normally she liked a good buzz, but she needed all of her wits about her to finish translating the book. She brusquely ordered a clean meal and turned her attention back toward the television until her meal arrived.

Days later she needed to take a real break before frustration caused her to rip the book into little pieces. For each section she translated, it either directly countered or made nonsense of the passages before. There was some sort of riddle key that she needed to figure out and it was eluding her. She wandered for an hour or so, taking in the sights, smells and sounds, hoping some latent memory might spring up and help her out of her quandary. Nothing was helping so she opted to have a good stiff drink. She entered a dark seedy little place and as she waited for her drink she wondered when she would hear from the Arch Bishop, it had already been two days and she was tired of waiting for a reply. She hated taking directions from anyone, and as she went deeper into a funk she looked up from her drink into a group of six toadies around her table; they were no one she recognized so she prepared for trouble.

"De boss be wanting' to speak wif you girlie." One gargled; his throat apparently had been cut and was slow to heal.

"Tell your boss to piss off, I'm here on vacation." Tam said in a very blasé manner.

"No choice." the man croaked.

With that as her only warning, Tam did not have time to duck out from the four pairs of hands that captured her and drug her out of the bar. Four dead toadies later, the remaining two had made it towards the dark tinted car waiting for them at the curb pulling her unceremoniously along. Seeing the struggle between their target and the two remaining goons, six more hopped out of the car and tried to help out. Tam was briefly reminded of the hoards of clowns coming out the circus cars and if it wasn't her ass they were trying to toss into the car she probably would have laughed. They surrounded her, and a smile graced her lips, one that was so coldly evil that others that were watching, of course in true New York fashion watching but doing nothing, took an involuntary step back and started to walk away. The fight was over too quickly for Tam's liking. She had just warmed up by taking our six more of the goons, and turned to take out the last two when the purring of an engine alerted her. As she turned she met the grill of the Park Avenue and seconds later felt the brick wall crush her into unconsciousness. She drifted back into consciousness as her bones popped and snapped as they healed from the damaged of being hit into a wall by a car, undead or not healing still hurt and with the type of injury she took she was vibrating from the pain that shook her. She was almost feeling back up to snuff when she was yanked out after the car stopped, drug into a tall building, up an elevator for twelve floors and then made to sit on some bench. When at last her neck had knit itself back together enough that she could lift her head up, she was pushed into a room and the door slammed shut after her.

"Well shit!" she though as she turned to look at it, not certain she wanted to face what might be ahead of her. "That certainly had a final ring to it."

"I wondered when you would grace my city again Tam." a rich and very familiar voice said.

"Malice?" she said turning around quickly, they moved to take a seat in a chair in front of his desk. "Congrats on the promotion, but since when do your contacts abduct those seeking your audience? Is the Regent dead then?"

Malice leaned forward with a cruel grin and offered her a goblet to drink from.

"Well the Regent still lives, so I suppose technically that it is _her_ city. However I do over see most of the operations." He said leaning back with ease. "As for abducting you- you asked to see me, so how can it be abducting when I am granting your request? Drink up; it's a good vintage. A healthy newborn plucked not two hours ago."

Tam raised her glass in salute to him and took a sip. It was still warm and slightly salty, tasting pure as only baby's blood could. She sat back calmly waiting for his request to make its way to the surface. She had to wait for him to finish his drink and refill his goblet before she got her wish. Malice sat back and gave her a bored look, one she knew better to relax around. It meant his brain was churning.

"So you torched the Prince of DC's library?" he said, rather than asked, in a lazy drawl.

"So Elizabeth Sharpe is your turn coat?" she said with equal lack of emotion in her voice, but so glad her brain kicked in to put the elusive pieces together.

"Now other than making Icy Falcon, or whatever the hell she calls herself now, look more like a stupid moose than she already does; I imagine you had a good reason to put yourself on the radar?" Malice said not bothering to answer her accusation.

"Funny you should be on the same track as me. I came here to make a deal with the Arch Bishop, and seeing how that is now you, I'll bend your ear a minute." Tam said smiling back and then mad ea lame excuse to buy herself a few minutes to get prepared. "I just need a quick snack, fighting your goons has left me a bit peaked."

Malice leaned forward and looked the slightest bit interested. Tam was known for being mysterious, but she was always prepared, so her needing to get prepared was something to take note of, she must have huge news. He nodded as he filled her glass.

"One for the road - meet me here at eleven tomorrow night with your information. "He said dismissively.

Tam downed the drink as a shot and left his office, her brain already figuring out how to tie up the loose ends that could unravel her whole plan. Someone might have to die, which was fine with her but she needed to get things together because she had the feeling that once she presented Malice with her proposition things would move quickly and she didn't plan to be unprepared again.

The next evening she met with Malice, he offered her a cold smile as she walked into his office and sat down. She took her time, knowing that she very much had the upper hand in this case and since she had never been in that position with him before she wanted to savor it. She set her reinforced case on the desk and sat back with a smile it was going to be fun to watch his face.

"So does Icy delivered for the killing make me a Bishop?" she said calmly.

Malice flicked a finger and servants came from somewhere to pour her a drink, at first sip she could tell she had his interest because unless her taste buds were misleading her, she was drinking twenty year old Caucasian male virgin, an almost unheard of vintage in New York.

"She trusts you enough to walk into a trap, hmmmm?" he mused, but said nothing else.

"I figure her life has been spared only because some of the others thought it to be a cruel joke to whomever she latched onto. However I refuse to be lumped into that group, so I figure that I can deliver her to you, and in return you can make me a Bishop. I'm tired of her and since she can't keep track of who are her friends and who are not..." Tam said, sat back and finished her drink while she waited for her answer.

"When it is confirmed to me that, that disgraceful eyesore is dead you may have your promotion." Malice said, refilling her glass. "This opens the Bishop's condominium on 94th street. I it will be active when you return. Give me the details before you leave."

"Of course, do you want to be in on the kill?" she said nodding to him.

Malice looked at her and then favored her with a nod and a feral smile. Nothing else was said, he merely turned around and began working at his computer, and sure that she would get the hint and leave. Tam wanted very badly to taunt him about having found the book, vampires after all were pretty vain characters, but that would mean her eminent death and since she hadn't come all this way to fall short of the mark she got up quietly and left. She went from his office straight to a bus station and climbed on the bus slated to leave for DC only minutes after she arrived. She made sure to never be predictable, when she was traveling and changed modes often even if it meant temporary discomfort. She received her plans mentally on the trip down and quickly moved into action when she arrived. After making sure that she would arrive before the sun rose, she tranced herself and tried to relax as she went over the details time and again. At the stop in New Jersey she got off and rented a car, nothing flashy, and drove quickly to DC, eating the one cop who dared to stop her and got ready.

First step was to adopt a new persona; she grabbed a thin young boy and after bonding him, took his face and clothes. She stashed him in a seedy motel a few miles outside the city because she was definitely going to need him again. She now had the perfect disguise; Icy would never have the sense to look for her to be a boy, if nothing else the cow always made sure that she reeked of femininity and wouldn't ever use a male guise, thus she would never look for it. She quickly made her way to the bar and sat out front, begging, to get attention. There weren't many stray child ghouls; they usually got absorbed before they had time to amount to anything, but it was the right part to play to put her in position for Icy's demise. She sat around the corner for only two hours before Icy came out and the act of her life was to begin.

"Don't you know better than to clutter up my doorstep?" Icy said, lumbering over to the child.

"I'm just hungry! That bitch double crossed me and didn't give me nothing to eat!" Tam whined. "She had me stand ready at the big fancy hotel with a cab but never paid me."

"Who? A blond girl?" Icy said, taking up the bait as if it were unattended chocolates.

"Yea, Bitch wanted to leave as fast as she could. Said she would be back tomorrow to give me some book to hide for her but never fed me so I don't believe nothing now."

"Where is she coming back to?" Icy demanded.

"Feed me and I'll tell ya." Tam said, haggling for authenticity's sake.

Icy nodded and ushered her inside. She brought the "Boy" to a small corner booth that was much concealed in the shadows. Tam took a sip from the glass placed before her and tried her best not to grimace. It was too warm, as if heated by microwave and was such a common vintage that she couldn't even tell what it was. However as a starving child she chugged it down and then looked up expectantly for more.

"Now, now young one, let's hear what the bad lady said to you first." Icy said in what was supposed to be a sweet tone. "After that I can take care of you, not all of us are bad. Maybe you can even have a place to sleep for the morning."

Tam tried not to drown in the syrupy comfort that was poured on her, and moved away from the press of "womanly flesh" as Icy tried to comfort her. She stifled her grimace and looked properly humble. She knew for certain that she was going to be doing the world a favor. The living would just see another dead vampire, but the other vampires would call her a hero for ridding that blight from the world. After all, the woman microwaved blood!

"See I was minding me own business and this girl came up and said that she would get me a nip if I could do two things for her. One was to get her a cab and be ready at that big fancy hotel there and then the other was that she was supposed to be back tomorrow and I was supposed to stash some book for her so she could make some big bargain or something." Tam said, trying to lick the last dregs out of the glass.

Icy smiled, her pasty over made up face threatening to crack as she lifted her hand and had more blood brought. Tam inwardly groaned but put on her best excited face at the prospect of more food.

"So after I feed you up real nice, you can take me to where she is supposed to be." Icy said, pressing in even closer. "I don't like when stupid people mistreat children. She should have to pay for what she did to you."

"Sure." Tam said enthusiastically, even though she was suffocating on the stench of cheap perfume.

Tam finished another drink of crap; she wondered if she was drinking from Icy's private stock. Another big joke that was whispered in hushed tones around the bar was that Icy drank only from anorexics in the hopes of losing some weight. It would make sense with how thin and lackluster the blood was. As quickly as she could, she scooted out of the bar unnoticed as Icy shrieked and bounced and jiggled her way over to the next unsuspecting patrons under the next pretense of being popular. Tam shook her head in disgust and began the final phase of her plans. She went back to her room and mercilessly beat the boy she had stashed there; she needed to have a battered face and had no problem in taking out the frustration at having to spent so much time with the cow, on the hapless child. After she adopted his new faced, she drained him into a dry husk and removed any evidence of either of them ever being in the room. She went to a local youth hostel and tucked in to sleep as the rays of the sun began to crest over the horizon. The night was going to be a long one.


	3. Chapter 3

Ice Ice Baby- Ch 3

Tam woke with excitement at dusk, she had gone to sleep damn near giddy and upon opening her eyes, she looked up at the rickety wooden bunk she almost chuckled. She quickly looked around but saw no one else in her room; a tingle course through her body as she anticipated that by dawn she would be a Bishop of New York City. Mentally she reviewed the plan until she was certain that everything would go smoothly, and looking at a small clock she knew it was show time. She quickly left her room, making a few calls to ensure that everything was in place. She left through the back door and walked the three miles to the bar, she wanted to look in bad shape and the walk in poorly fitting shoes left her sore and she played it up with a limp. She settled in a corner near the stoop of the bar, curled up and waited for Icy to come retrieve her,

The next few hours were some that Tam would commit to her memory as some of the best of her existence. Things could not have played out more beautifully if they were scripted and rehearsed. Icy came to collect her boy persona and promptly sympathized at the beating. To her absolute thrill, Tam got to puke on some satin shoes. Icy was wearing some satin high heeled creations, there was no other word for them, and as she leaned down to give the "boy" sympathy, Tam got the wicked idea. The feet were stuffed into shoes about three sizes too small, looking like pale lumps of dough surrounded by glittering satin shoes of chartreuse.

"Did she hit you lambkins?" Icy gushed and oozed, trying her best not to look annoyed and scare off her information.

"Yea, for not being on time, but I got good news for you." Tam said, wincing in pain for Icy's benefits, the shudders helped her get over her urge to laugh. She quickly reigned herself in and got down to business at hand. "She is going to deliver the book to some old book buying near the University of Maryland, at the College Park metro stop."

Tam almost gagged as Icy crushed her in a smothering hug of excitement. Then she was abruptly pulled to her feet and drug through the club, out the back and pushed into a car where Icy proceeded to sit half on her in the back seat. Tam pretended to be meek and quiet and tried her best to ignore the vapid prattle that was streaming on next to her, she could not afford to drift off into another brain fugue, but it was hard. They came up to the College Park stop eons later, at least that's what it felt like to Tam, and she clambered out as quickly as she could. She had not felt pure joy in years, but getting out of the sticky, smelling car and away from Icy gave her a feeling that just might have been. Quickly she ran down the steps and gained a blessed few minutes to herself as Icy rapidly lumbered down the stairs, but had to be careful in navigations so she didn't fall on the heels that were too tall for her, Tam urged her on in hushed whispers, navigating down into the sub sections of the metro-rail system where no humans dared to tread. It was dark, dank and too moist but still Tam kept the pace up, zig zagging through the underground so that even if Icy were paying attention that she would have a hard time retracing their steps. After twenty minutes of moving about they came to a ladder. Here was the only part of the plan that Tam figured had a flaw, it might be difficult to explain why some regular antique book dealer had a ladder to the subway beneath his store. Even still she kept pace and rapidly climbed up the metal rungs. A very feral smile covered her lips as she head Icy clang her way up the ladder.

As Tam entered the room, she almost laughed. Standing over in a dimly lit corner a blonde and an old man stood looking over a book. Tam moved out of the way and gave a helping hand to Icy. As soon as she was in the room and saw the blonde, Icy moved toward her and Tam shut the trap door, quietly locked it and stood on it for safe keeping. As Icy walked over to the couple"Tam" turned to face her and gave a small smile.

"So you thought you could cheat me Tamara Stone?" Icy said in a high pitched whine, sauntering over. "I want that book back now! I knew it was valuable and it belongs to the Prince."

"Tam" laughed a hollow and cold laugh that held no humor in it and walked to meet her halfway. The real Tam followed behind ready to make her reveal and see what Icy would do in the face of her imminent demise.

"I didn't think I could cheat you Ice, baby. I thought I would kill you." The impostor Tam said.

Icy laughed a high pitched sound that was supposed to pass for menacing; at least Tam postulated that was the purpose. She stood quietly by, watching Icy make an ass of herself.

"You think that you will be able to kill me? I am better lineage than you. My sire was sixth generation, and his sire before him was Prince! You have nothing on me; you are nothing, no titles, no lineage and no contacts save me! I could have made you but you tried to cross me and failed." Icy said, pulling up her sizable girth in self-importance. "I have the real power here, you have nothing."

"Do you have good vision?" Tam said, stepping from behind her to stand next to her doppelganger, and let her false appearance melt away into her true visage.

Icy did a double take, and then nervously twittered. She finally took a good hard look around her, and panic shone brightly from her eyes. Tam and not-Tam dance around with each other.

"Too bad we don't have three, because then you could play Three Tam Monty." Tam laughed, liking Malice's style but not so happy that someone else could impersonate her so well.

When the impromptu dance finally ended the duo stood side by side.

"Now, who is who Icy?" the impostor said.

"It doesn't matter. Not like this farce will get you anything. When I go back and tell the Prince you will all be cast out and hunted." Icy said.

To Tam's amazement, she really believed what she was saying. There was no out; Icy would never leave the small room, Malice chuckled, not a pleasant sound at all. He stood next to Tam and from her peripheral vision she saw him wave his hands. She took a step side-ways, partially not to be hit by his hands but also to avoid whatever was going to happen. He grew taller, and took his own face back. He raised his hands and all around them Sabbat members took a unified step forward. A loud snap echoed around them as approximately forty feet the floor at the same time. Even still Icy kept her composure something Tam would never haven given her credit for being able to do but even still her nervousness betrayed by the ring she twisted on her finger.

"You really think you are going to be able to leave here and see your Prince " Tam sneered. "Of course you would - you actually thought we were friends."

Icy turned her head and looked at Tam through narrowed eyes.

"You stupid bitch, I was trying to give you something to make a name for yourself. I figured we knew the same crowd so I was giving you a leg up. You have done so poorly for yourself, that I felt bad for you." Icy said and then smiled. "Of course being nothing but a pauper you don't understand the powers of having a Tremere wizard in your debt. All of you from the Sabbat will wish you had died instead of trying to take on the DC Camarilla! As for me, you stupid pathetic saps, I am the eyes and ears of the Prince. Nothing happens without me finding out about it - you think I was tricked into coming here? You think I can't escape and report this uprising to the Prince and take your lives? Breathe deep my "friends" I have a rich lineage and a powerful sire. Behold the wonders that are me!"

Then something happened that would give Tam pleasant dreams for the rest of her life. Icy focused and began to mutter an incantation. Tam's eyebrows rose incredulously as she recognized the start of a powerful spell - but knowing the requirements she tried hard not to laugh. The rest of the Sabbat stood and watched her, not flinching nor moving. Tam walked around her, looking around to see if any of the needed preparations had been met, they had not. This was going to be interesting. Growing louder with each word, Icy gestured and looked very serious. She finished incantation with a flourish of waving arms, and looked properly stunned when her finger wearing the ring transported off to who knows where. The rest of the Sabbat members closed in with very nasty smiles upon their faces. As Tam unlocked the trap and descended the ladder, she could hear shrieks of pain and the start of the frenzy amongst the Sabbat members. Lower generation or not, she didn't want any of the crazy broad's blood in her.

Tam surfaced at the metro station, quickly grabbed a cab to their airport and flew home. Her slide card worked on the door to her new condominium. She stooped to survey her new home. It was lavish without being gaudy. She called up her servant and told him to bring a celebration meal home for her. She was happy with her work, she rid the world of the useless Icy Falcon, while she was now Bishop of New York City and to top it all she had a copy of the first four from the chapters from the Book of the Dead.

Life was good.


End file.
